SOLAR+STORAGE, ENERGY

Intersect Power Achieves Commercial Operation of 310 MWp Athos III Solar Project in CA

Intersect Power, LLC | January 13, 2023 | Read time : 02:00 min

Intersect Power Achieves Commercial

Intersect Power, LLC announced that its Athos III solar project in Riverside County, California, will start making money on December 22, 2022. The Athos III solar project was constructed by union workers, with solar panels, batteries, and steel piles made in America. This means that it is expected to comply with the domestic content and prevailing wage requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The Athos III solar project (Blythe Mesa Solar II) is generating 224 MWac/310 MWp of dependable solar energy to power about 94,000 households and features 448 MWh of co-located storage.

Sheldon Kimber, Intersect Power CEO, stated, "Today marks a major milestone for the Intersect Power team and our impact as a clean energy developer, owner, and operator."

Source – Cision PR Newswire

Intersect Power's Athos III solar project is part of its near-term portfolio, which includes 2.2 GW of solar photovoltaic and 1.4 GWh of co-located storage. The majority of the portfolio will go live in 2023. As a result, the Athos III solar project generated 500 peak union positions.

Funding for the project's operations and construction was secured as part of the expanded portfolio financing announced in November 2022, when Intersect Power closed on commitments from critical financial institutions and investors for portfolio-level term loans, tax equity, and construction finance.

HPS Investment Partners provided the portfolio term debt. The tax equity was delivered by Morgan Stanley Renewables Inc. The construction debt was provided by coordinating Lead Arrangers Santander Corporate & Investment Banking and MUFG. Along with Cobank, Helaba, KeyBanc Capital Markets, and Nord LB as joint lead arrangers.

About Intersect Power

Intersect Power is a clean energy firm that provides retail and wholesale energy markets with innovative and scalable low-carbon solutions. The corporation produces some of the world's most significant clean energy resources, supplying North American clients with low-carbon power, fuels, and related products. Intersect Power's base portfolio consists of 2.2 GW of solar PV and 1.4 GWh of co-located storage that are either under development or in service. The company's business model calls for expanding grid-connected renewables and large-scale clean energy assets like green hydrogen.

Spotlight

To accelerate Smart Grids adoption in Qatar, one of the fastest growing Arab countries, Hitachi Energy India partnered with a leading energy company to deliver a customized monitoring system for the landmark solar power plant in Qatar - Al Kharsaah. Hitachi successfully delivered the first-ever customized Digital Monitoring Package that will accelerate transformer digitalization and allow the customer to deliver reliable, clean solar power to the citizens of Qatar for a better Quality of Life.

Spotlight

To accelerate Smart Grids adoption in Qatar, one of the fastest growing Arab countries, Hitachi Energy India partnered with a leading energy company to deliver a customized monitoring system for the landmark solar power plant in Qatar - Al Kharsaah. Hitachi successfully delivered the first-ever customized Digital Monitoring Package that will accelerate transformer digitalization and allow the customer to deliver reliable, clean solar power to the citizens of Qatar for a better Quality of Life.

Related News

STRATEGY AND BEST PRACTICES, ENERGY

Exro Announces Partnership with Greentech to Offer Energy Storage Systems

Exro | February 08, 2023

On February 7, 2023, Exro Technologies Inc. (Exro), a leading clean technology firm that has developed new generation power control electronics that extend the capabilities of electric motors and batteries, announced entering into a channel partnership agreement with Greentech Renewables Southwest (Greentech), one of the major solar equipment distributors in the United States. The agreement is coherent with Exro's targeted go-to-market strategy for its Cell Driver™ Energy Storage System (Cell Driver™) product offering, partnering with renowned clean energy integrators to provide scalability and expertise in order to enhance and accelerate market penetration to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers. The non-exclusive partnership will expedite Exro's market presence by addressing Greentech's expanding demand for energy storage in C&I applications and EV charging stations. The primary goal for 2023 is to successfully present the Cell Driver™ product to Greentech's network of commercial integrators. It is anticipated that these objectives will be accomplished in two phases, commencing with the development of a collaborative sales and marketing plan that includes a pilot project for which multiple locations are being examined. During the second phase of the agreement, Greentech and its network of solar installers will provide a flexible 12 and 24-month rolling demand forecast for the duration of the 5-year agreement. The Exro Cell Driver™ offers more control over battery cells, resulting in more efficient charging, deeper discharge rates, higher safety, and uninterrupted operation. This allows commercial and industrial establishments to regulate energy usage, protect against grid failures, store energy produced on-site, and profit from peak shaving and load shifting. Additionally, Cell Driver™ is outfitted with Exro's proprietary Battery Control System™, which dynamically manages cells depending on their State-of-Charge (SoC) and State-of-Health (SoH). This enables micro-protection systems to isolate defects electronically, drastically lowering the likelihood of thermal runaways without interfering with system performance. With its active cell balancing features, the Exro Cell Driver™ addresses issues in the stationary energy storage market while also providing an appropriate solution for the influx of retired electric car batteries by repurposing them into a second life in stationary energy storage. About Exro Technologies Inc. Founded in 2014, Exro Technologies Inc. is a leading clean technology firm that has developed new generation power control electronics that are changing how the world optimizes energy by increasing the capabilities of electric motors and batteries. The company's cutting-edge technologies help close the performance-cost gap in stationary energy storage (Cell Driver™) and e-mobility (Coil Driver™), as well as expedite the adoption of a circular electrified economy by delivering a minimum amount of energy for maximum results.

Read More

SUSTAINABILITY

Octopus Energy Announces €1 Billion Investment in French Green Energy Market and New European Tech Hub in Paris

Octopus Energy | March 17, 2023

Octopus Energy, the UK’s third largest energy retailer, has announced plans to invest €1 billion in the French green energy market over the next two years. The investment will be used to accelerate the energy transition in France and generate enough local green power to supply 300,000 households. Building on its investments already made in France, the company is launching a new European tech hub in Paris through its subsidiary Kraken. The new hub will create hundreds of clean energy jobs and support millions of customers across the continent. Octopus Energy first entered the French market in January 2022 with its acquisition of French energy supplier Plüm énergie. The company is now targeting 1 million customers by 2026 in France. While offering better customer service and bringing down prices, Octopus Energy France is also helping and rewarding French households to lower their energy consumption through innovative products. The company's customers already use 10% less energy than the average French household, and Octopus is committed to continue innovating to help French consumers use less, but stay warm. Announcing the plans at the 36th Franco-British Summit, chaired by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris today, Octopus Energy CEO and Founder, Greg Jackson, commented: “Octopus operates across 10 European countries, and today we’re delighted to announce a huge increase in our cooperation with France. We’re planning to invest an extra billion Euros in French generation - but we’re also going to make Paris our EU technology hub. This is testament to the mutual commitment to investing in a clean energy system, and pioneering the digitisation which will drive costs down alongside carbon.” Vincent Maillard, CEO of Octopus Energy France, commented: “We are very proud to see Octopus Energy's role in France's energy transition recognized at the highest level of the French government. In doing so, the group combines retail energy expertise, major investments in renewable generation and cutting-edge technology to unlock innovative tariffs and deliver an outstanding customer experience to French households." About Octopus Energy Group Octopus Energy Group is a global energy tech pioneer, launched in 2016 to use technology to unlock a customer focused and affordable green energy revolution. It is part of Octopus Group, which is a certified BCorp. With operations in 14 countries, Octopus Energy Group's mission is going global. Octopus’s domestic energy arm already serves 3.4 million customers with cheaper greener power, through Octopus Energy, Affect Energy, Ebico, London Power and Co-op Energy. In December 2022, it was announced that Octopus would also take on the 1.5 million customers of failed supplier Bulb Energy. Octopus Electric Vehicles is helping make clean transport cheaper and easier, and Octopus Energy Services is bringing smart products to thousands of homes. Octopus Energy Generation is one of Europe’s largest investors in renewable energy, managing a £4bn portfolio of renewable energy assets throughout the continent. All of these are made possible by Octopus’s tech arm, Kraken Technologies, which offers a proprietary, in-house platform based on advanced data and machine learning capabilities, Kraken automates much of the energy supply chain to allow outstanding service and efficiency as the world transitions to a decentralized, decarbonized energy system. This technology has been licensed to support over 20 million customer accounts worldwide, through deals with EDF Energy, Good Energy, E.ON energy and Origin Energy. In December 2021, Octopus Energy Group was valued at approximately $5 billion following a $600 million investment from Generation Investment Management and a $300 million investment from Canada Pensions Plan Investments Board. Both investors back businesses that drive sustainability, promote green energy and tackle climate change. It was the company’s third major investment round since launching to the market.

Read More

SUSTAINABILITY

OCI Solar Power Works as EPC to Upgrade Its Alamo 2 Solar Farm

OCI Solar Power | March 10, 2023

OCI Solar Power, a utility-scale solar developer, declared that it recently worked as the EPC to upgrade its Alamo 2 solar farm. This upgrade would enhance its performance and reliability. It has maintained a solar farm for over eight years and has about 4.4 MWac solar energy projects on 45 acres of land which started operating in March 2014. It has strived for a solution to every mechanical failure and observed the working of advanced tracker technology. In addition, it supervised a second months-long upgrade, during which it performed the scope of EPC. It completed a renovation to its 39.2 MWac Alamo 1 solar facility in 2019 and a 6-month upgrade at Alamo 2 in 2022. These upgrades in projects at Alamo 1 and Alamo 2 happened in sections so that the solar farm remains partially energized. These adjustments ensured power supply to CPS Energy, a power, natural gas, and electric company in the public sector. Construction Manager at OCI Solar Power, Jason Thompson said, "We found ourselves repairing trackers and then fixing them again days later because of mechanical issues. It was very similar to what our Alamo 1 solar farm located south of San Antonio was experiencing a few years ago. Now both solar farms have state-of-the-art trackers from Array Technologies, Inc. and increased production." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) President & CEO at OCI Solar Power, Charles Kim said, "Enhancing Alamo 2 is another example of our commitment to our customers and the solar industry." He added, "We are consistently working to ensure that the solar farms we own and operate are performing near or at capacity so electric customers receive clean energy. The construction project was also a way for us reiterate the importance of investing in a clean, reliable, sustainable fuel source." (Source – Cision PR Newswire) About OCI Solar Power Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, OCI Solar Power, a solar energy company, has been innovating and developing utility-scale solar power plants in the United States since 2011. It constructs, develops, operates and owns photovoltaic projects for sustainable green energy generation. It is creating job opportunities and energy independence. It has brought utility scaled solar projects to Texas. Among the solar plants installed in the ERCOT market, over 450 MW are from OCI Solar Power. Its three projects are 100% compliant with Buy American Act. Its Alamo 6 is a dual-axis solar farm in the US. Its parent company, OCI Company Ltd, manufactures polysilicon, a raw material for solar cells.

Read More